Postville Courthouse State Historic Site

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The Postville Courthouse State Historic Site is a reconstructed county courthouse located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The original frame courthouse was built in 1840, and the current courthouse, which is a close replica of the first, was built in 1953. The building's unusual history is derived from its status as one of the courthouses used by lawyer Abraham Lincoln as he traveled the circuit of courtrooms in central Illinois. The courthouse replica is operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

1 The courthouse
2 Abraham Lincoln
3 The aftermath
4 Henry Ford and the Courthouse Farce Regarding the Sale of the Postville Courthouse in 1929
5 External links

[edit] The courthouse

Postville, a frontier settlement, was founded in 1835 by Russell Post. In 1839, the Illinois General Assembly chartered a new county from territory undergoing settlement. The new county was named Logan County, and the cournty's first commissioners chose Postville, located close to the center of the new county, as the county seat.

A simple frame courthouse was raised in the following year. Built in an austere Federal style, the new courthouse resembled a private home. It contained not only a circuit courtroom, but also offices for the county clerk, the sheriff, the county recorder of deeds, the coroner, and the county surveyor. In addition, the county board of commissioners and the justice of the peace sat in the courtroom during their times of duty.

The Postville Courthouse State Historic Site served the people of Logan County for only eight years, from 1840 until 1848. In the latter year, the people of a nearby town, Mount Pulaski, Illinois, offered to take over the county seat in exchange for building a brick courthouse for the county's use. Concerned about the possibility of a courthouse fire and the destruction of the county's legal records, the county's leaders accepted the offer. The new courthouse was the Mount Pulaski Courthouse State Historic Site, which also survives.

[edit] Abraham Lincoln

After seven years in Mount Pulaski from 1848 until 1855, the county seat was moved to a site by the newly built Chicago and Alton Railroad tracks. The new county seat, which was close to Postville, was named Lincoln, Illinois, after the central Illinois lawyer. A fire in Lincoln in 1857 did indeed destroy Logan County's court records. As a result, we know little about the legal cases at Postville in which Lincoln was involved.

During the active use of the Postville courthouse, Lincoln was a young lawyer who was struggling to make a name for himself. The state of Illinois law at that time did not encourage specialization, and Lincoln would have taken any case for which he was hired.

Although law on the frontier was competitive, Lincoln made many friends in Logan County at this time. In 1846, the people of Central Illinois elected him to serve a term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and in 1853, the people of central Logan County named their new county seat for him. The new town of Lincoln grew so fast that by the 1860s, it had swallowed up nearby Postville, which was annexed and ceased to exist.

Neighbors of the old Postville courthouse passed down stories. One well-corroborated tale says that the field across from the courthouse, then a vacant lot, was used by Lincoln and other young lawyers as a place to play town ball, a 19th-century variety of baseball, while the counsellors were waiting for their cases to come up on the docket.

[edit] The aftermath

After Postville became a neighborhood of Lincoln, the courthouse became a private home and gradually faded in importance. In 1929, inventor Henry Ford, eager to buy historic old buildings, purchased the old structure for $8,000. His contractors dismantled the frame structure, dug up the foundation, and moved everything to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, where the original Postville Courthouse stands today.

The people of Lincoln were troubled by losing this item from their heritage, and asked the state of Illinois to try to make up part of the loss. The state built a replica courthouse in 1953, using the dimensions and data of the original building. This replica, furnished as a courtroom of the 1840s, serves as the current Postville Courthouse State Historic Site.

[edit] Henry Ford and the Courthouse Farce Regarding the Sale of the Postville Courthouse in 1929

According to Professor Paul Beaver in History of Logan County 1982, Mrs. T. T. Beach sold the original Postville Courthouse to Henry Ford in 1929 without understanding it would be removed from the community. Some time before that, her late husband, Judge Timothy T. Beach, had offered the property to the county, city, and civic organizations; but these entities at that time were not willing or not able to accept the expense. According to a newspaper article, however, Beach's offer to the local governing bodies was not made public and hence Illinois citizens were short changed by Ford.

In thinking the courthouse would remain in Lincoln, had Mrs. Beach been misled, or did she simply misunderstand? When she discovered that Mr. Ford intended to remove the courthouse, she had seller's remorse: she "offered to refund the money which she had received"

Historian Raymond Dooley, former president of Lincoln College, explains that "because of the then (1929) current agricultural depression, only a very few citizens were interested in restoring the dilapidated structure" ("Lincoln and His Namesake Town," p. 143).

"Henry Ford, with a chauffeur, drove into Lincoln [unannounced] on Labor Day, Sept. 1 [1929], and met with Mayor David Clark, Judge Stringer, Mr. Nichols, Mrs. Allyne V. Nugent, publisher of the Lincoln Courier, and Larry Shroyer, a freelance newsman, in the Commercial Hotel. Ford's argument was that the old courthouse, if taken to Dearborn, would have a lasting setting and one in which millions of people would be able to visit.

During the meeting with Ford, Judge Stringer reportedly noted, "Why, Mr. Ford, Route 66 passes right by this site and a million people a year will pass here and see it and many of them will stop and enjoy this historic shrine!" (Dooley, "Lincoln and His Namesake Town," p. 143).

"No definite response was made by Ford and he left for home" Later, "Mr. Nichols said he did not know at the time Mr. Ford had the deed in his pocket. . . ." Mr. Ford allegedly paid $8,000 for this property (Dooley, "Lincoln and His Namesake Town," pp. 144-145).

According to "Postville Courthouse Being Restored. . . ," Henry Ford bought the Postville property prior to his Labor Day visit -- on August 18, 1929. At the time of purchase, Mr. Ford kept the transaction secret. D.F. Nichols and associates were not the only ones who were unaware of the date of the sale. On August 19, -- the day after the sale --, "an appointment had been made with Mrs. Beach by an American Legion committee and Mrs. Nugent for the express purpose of buying this same property." George Zeter and Charles Pomrenke were officers of the Legion. Their plan was to gain an option on the property and then conduct a campaign for general public contributions.

In a 1929 photo, one is able to contrast the "cat that ate the canary" grin on Mr. Ford's face with the body English of frustration shown by the Mayor and the Judge on this fateful day the state of Illinois was swindled out of an important piece of American and Lincoln history.

The questions historians ask are these: If Mr. Ford had already bought the property, had he used "secret agents?" If so, did any Lincolnites "aid and abet" these outsiders? Did Ford visit Lincoln on Labor Day weekend mainly to inspect his trophy? Why did he agree to meet with the local officials? Was he just trying to appear reasonable and avoid bad press and public reaction? Was Henry Ford a Twentieth-century "courthouse swindler" or "philanthopist"?